Sometimes I'm a bad mom. Like when Ainsley wants me to dance with her and I'm too tired or too cumbersome these days to get off the couch. And sometimes I don't give her the most healthy meals. And sometimes she doesn't get enough exercise or watches too much TV. However, I think some of the people who write "How to raise kids" books don't know what they're talking about and don't work full time and don't have a husband looking for a job and aren't pregnant and maybe don't actually have a strong willed 2 year old, etc, etc, etc.
However, it really makes me sad when as a parent, you really try to do something right and it goes very wrong. That makes you feel really guilty.
While we were snowed in this past weekend, I tried to take the opportunity to potty train Ainsley a little more. She does so well with number 1. If she could just pee and nothing else, the child would be potty trained. However, number 2 is a whole other story. When she has to go she asks to wear a diaper. So this past weekend, I told her "No, you need to go on the potty." And we had this whole talk about big girls going #2 on the potty. I kept her in underpants all day Sunday, and she never went on the potty. When I did put her in a diaper so we could run a few errands, I told her "Now Ainsley, you have to keep your diaper clean." So every time I asked her if she had to go, she'd say "No, my diaper keen. Ony on potty." So I thought it was really sinking in.
However, I was so wrong. Poor child got so constipated from holding it that I felt like absolute dirt last night watching her try and "work it out." Anyone who knows Ainsley, knows that she is a happy little girl. She rarely cries, and when she does it's not for long. Poor baby cried her little heart out last night. I felt so bad. And I realize my intentions were good, but now I know that I went about it all wrong.
We all make mistakes as parents. Just like we all make mistakes as friends, or wives, or husbands, or employees...it's just so sad that this little person has to bear the brunt of those mistakes sometimes.
Well now I know.
